Universal Audio Opens Doors to Cabrillo Music Technology Students

There are hundreds of music schools and recording programs across the country, but only one of them is close enough to get a behind-the-scenes peek at UA on their lunch break. Universal Audio recently hosted an open house at our headquarters for recording students at Cabrillo College’s Music Technology and Recording Arts program — introducing them to the engineers, product developers, marketeers, salespeople, and executives at UA.

Cabrillo College is a well-respected community college in the Monterey Bay Area. Students in the Music Technology and Recording Arts program learn the conceptual and hands-on skills necessary to become musicians and recording engineers. James B. Durland, the program's director, and Bill Putnam Jr., CEO and Founder of UA, organized the recent visit to share a glimpse of the manufacturing / development side of the audio industry.

“We wanted to give the recording students at Cabrillo a chance to see how the gear they use every day is conceptualized, manufactured, sold, and supported,” said Putnam. “We also wanted to introduce them career opportunities in the music industry they may not have known existed. Many of us here are musicians, and we're all very passionate about creating the best recording analog hardware and software plug-ins possible.”

The event kicked off with a presentation by the CEO Bill Putnam, President Matt Ward, and representatives from the engineering, marketing, sales, manufacturing, and product support divisions of Universal Audio. Students then toured the factory floor, where UA’s classic analog gear is still painstakingly hand-constructed, one unit at a time. The event finished with a tour of the UA studio, consisting of countless vintage EQs, synthesizers, guitar pedals, keyboards, delays, reverbs, and tape machines — many of which have been emulated on the UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins platform.

“This has been a really terrific opportunity. To be able to see the people behind the whole company and how each of them bring their experiences and information and love to everybody made for a totally successful event,” said Director James Durland.